Improvement in turn-tables foe railroads



.fniirh tetra strutn v @fitta LEROY E. LEE AND CARSON MUDGE, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA,

Laim Patent No. 64,545, daad May v, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN TURN-TABLES FOR RAILROADS.

'TO ALL WHOM VIT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, LEROY E. LEE and CARsoN MUDGn, both of the city of New Orleans, parish of Orleans, and State of Louisiana, have jointly invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad .Turn-Tables; and we dolicreby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of 'the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in Which- Fignre 1 is a top view of a turn-table with our improvements attached.

Figure 2, a bottom view of a turntable with our improvements.

Figure 3, a view of the concentric framework surrounding a turn-table, with the rollers on which the table revolves exposed; and i Figure 4, a bottom view of a turn-table, exhibiting the notches or recesses in the rim thereof throughwhich it is heldin position.

lOur invention has for its object the supersedure of the necessity of employing men at the turn-tableslof city railroads to operate or work the same, and to do this we have devised a system of mechanical appliances, whichare operated by the cars, that require to be turned as the said ears pass upon the table, and hence the nature of our invention consists of these mechanical eontrivances in combination with an ordinary turn-table.

To enable others skilled in the art to which our invention appertains to make and use it, We now proceed to -describe its construction and operation with''referen'ce to the drawings.

A is the usual concentric framework surrounding and supporting a turn-table. B is a turn-table resting upon a central pivot and revolving upon rollers, a, iig. 3, which are placed, as is usual, within the inner rim of the concentric framework A and permanently connected thereto. Referring to g. 1, it will be perceived that b b b are projecting pins, which, coming up through proper openings in said rails, show themselves above said rails. These pins are connected loosely, by which we mean in such manner that they cannot jam, with levers e c/ c that are attached to the under side of the turn-table by pivots near their centres. The outer ends of 4these levers are considerably heavier than the inner ends, so that the eil'ect is to keep the pins above the rails whenever there is no countervailing inuence, as, for example, the pressure of a car, to produce a contrary result. In connection with lever c is a longer and a somewhat peculiarly shaped lever, 0l, which in one direction isoperated by a weight, o, or, if it be preferred, by a spring in lieu of a weight, and in the other by the said lever c. The peeuliarity of' shape to which we have referred consists in a bending in ,such manner as at s, that the lever c in being depressed also depresses d and withdraws its upturned catch-point from the recess or mortise z' z" or 2', as the case may be. Outside of the turn-table, and pivoted to the under surface of the eoncentric supporting framework, are two other levers, f and f', having loosely connected with their ends projecting pins, g g', which, it will beseen, also project through and above the rails overlying the said ends. The pins g not only project upward 'through the rails, they have a lateral extension looking toward the turn-table, and which fit into recesses or notches that are cut into thesa-id turn-table around its perimeter, as seen at g, lig. 4. The pins g', with the lateral extension thereof and the upturned point of lever d, when in the recesses and openings madc with reference to them, hold the .turn-table immovably in position, and it requires that the said pins and projecting point of lever d shall all be withdrawn from said recesses before the table can be turned.

The operation of our invention is as follows: A car approaches the table on track No. 1, and as its fore wheels impinge upon projecting pins g g', the latter are depressed, while the pins gg-arc elevated. In the depression of the pins gfg the extension catches laterally projecting from them are withdrawn from the recesses in the rim of the turn-table, into which they had projected, and the upturned point of lever cl alone holds the table in position. The car passes on to the table and the right-hand fore wheel runs upon pin b,'and depressing it also depresses the point of lever d, and the table now is free to revolve, since, by the withdrawal of this point of lever d, there remains nothing to prevent its turning. The driver 0f the car has only now to turn his animal to the right or the left, taking care first to put on his brake to prevent a forward movement of the ear, and thus swing around his ear .until the track on which it rests is coincident with the track on which he desires to pass. The moment this happens, to wit, the moment the track on the table is in line with the track on which the car is to go, the point of lever d enters arecess and holds the table securely in position, the weight o always keeping the said point ot' lever d in contact with the under surface ef the table, and ready to enter a recess the -be done.

instant one is reached. On passing o' the table the car-wheels depress the pins g g and elevate pins g g', and at the same time throw the laterally projecting parts thereof into the recesses in the rim of the table, and this being done the table is held in position to receive the next car.

It is obvious that severa-l tracks may be brought into connection with a. single table providedwith our invention, both in coming upon it and in leaving it, and hence no further description is requisite to showhow this may Having thus described our invention, what We claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is The combination of projecting points 6 b and ggg g and the openings or recesses-into which they enter, the pivoted lovers e c c and d andffwith a, railroad turn-table, when the-said parts are constructed and arranged for conjoint operation substantially as described for the purpose set forth.

LEROY E. LEE, CARSON MUDGE.

Witnesses:

RUFUs R. Rnonns, DUNCAN G. CAMPBELL. 

